Lakshya was preparing for bed when he got Uttara's call. She was distraught while relaying Ram and Sujata's conversation to him. Sensing her distress, Lakshya assured her that he will not let their family break. Finally, after half an hour he was able to calm her down. After finishing the call, he was stressed, he knew if Sanskar returned all that would stop but he seemed in no mood of returning. Moreover, it would seem that he had burned all his bridges to Sanskar. The way to Sanskar he was left with was through Swara, but he didn't think she would help him after what he had done to Kavya. He was at his wit's end and that is how Shekhar found him.
"Kya baat hai, beta? Tum kuch pareshan dikh rahe ho?" Shekhar asked. When Lakshya didn't reply, he continued. "Jo bhi hai, mujhe tum pe pura bharosa hai ki tum karloge." This shocked Lakshya.
"Aapko sachme aisa lagta hai?" Lakshya asked.
"Phele nahi lagta tha par aab lagta hai." Shekhar replied. This provided Lakshya with much-needed confidence. He now knew what he had to do, he just hoped Sujata won't take any drastic step in the meantime. With that thought in mind, he tried to sleep.
In Bose's house, both the sisters were preparing for bed. Both of them were walking on eggshells, finally, Swara had had enough and she asked Kavya what was Lakshya talking about on the balcony, earlier in the evening.
"Kuch nahi di, nothing I can't handle. Aap chinta mat karo." Kavya replied.
"Arre par tujhe sab akele handle hin kyun karna hai? Aur tu mujhe sab sach sach bata. Jab se main aayi hun, main dekh rahi hun sab ajeeb behave kar rahe ho. Aur ye kya naya obsession laga rakha hai tune baba ka?" Swara said.
"Obsession! Di aap ye kya keh rahe ho? Woh humare baba hai. Main toh bas humari family ko ek karna chahati hun."
"Ragini ka rishta todke. How can you be so insensitive? Mujhe laga woh dost hai tumhari."
"Di main aisa kabhi nahin chahati thi ki uska rishta toote aur Lakshya toh waise bhi khud rishta todna chahata tha. Aur aap ko kyun itna bura lag raha hai? Aap toh unhe pasand nahi karti."
"Sahi kaha, I don't like them but main dida ke tarah unse dusmani bhi nahi rakhna chahati. That family is a circus, to which, I don't want to buy tickets to. Mera bas chalta to unlogon ko humari life se gayab kar deti. And you have a family, unse kya chahiye?"
"Di, baba."
"Nahi Kavya, woh insaan humare pita nahi hai. We already have a father. Unhone pita ka sara kam kiya. He took our responsibility. Humari maa unke saath jo kia uske baad bhi, sab sach janne ke baad bhi unhone hume aapnaya. Dur se hin sahi par humari parvarish ki unhone. Yahan tak ki unki second wife ko bhi manaya hume accept karne ke liye. Shekhar Gadodia ne sirf sperm donate kiya aur puri zindagi hume bin baap ke hone ka tanna diya."
"Di unhe pata nahi tha."
"Unhe toh kabhi kuch pata nahi hota. Jo bhi hua tha badon ke bich hua tha, humari kya galati thi? Bahut bolte hai ki Sharmistha se pyar karte hai par Sharmistha ka saath nahi de paye."
"Di tab halat hin kuch aise the."
"Accha, ab halat sab thik hai toh humare saath hai, kal ko halat phir palat jayega toh hume chod denge. Uss inshaan pe mujhe ratti bhar bh bharosa nahi hai."
"Toh mujhpe karlo."
"Tumpe? Dost tak toh tum thik se nahi chunti."
"Di! This was uncalled for. Aap meri life mein interfere mat kijiye. Main sab sambhal lungi."
"Main dekh rahi hun kya sab sambhala hai tumne!" Swara was now getting agitated. Both of them were shouting at each other at that point. She took a deep breath to calm herself and then asked Kavya, "Kavi main bas tumhare iss zid ka karan janna chahti hun. Hum aaj tak toh the na unke bina aur kush the. Phir kyun? Please mujhe bata."
This overwhelmed Kavya and she hugged Swara.
"Kya hai Kavya? Please mujhe bata. Main tumhe aese nahi dekh sakti. Jo bhi hai, I'll try to solve it. Tum bas mujhe sab batao."
"Di, mujhe sachme nahi pata tha Lakshya aesa niklega. Mujhe pata tha ki woh thoda rude hai, show off bhi hai par ye maine nahi socha tha. Mujhe bhi aaj hi sab pata chala."
"It's ok, ab pata chal gaya na. Ab aage kya karna chahti ho tum iss bareme."
"I don't know, di. Mujhe kuch samajh main nahi araha hai. Mujhe toh abhi uski shakal bhi nahi dekhni. Waise, woh bol raha tha ki meri help karne aaye tha aur ab chala jayega. So that's good." Kavya said. Swara nodded at that. "Par di, main Ragini ko kaise bataun ki Lakshya usse pasand nahi karta. Woh yeh handle nahi kar payegi." Kavya continued.
"That is not your problem. Jab usse pata chalega, tum usse sahara de sakti ho par sach toh usse Lakshya se hin sunna chahiye. Do you understand? Tum usse moral support de sakti ho par usse hin khudko sambhalna hoga, kab tak woh dusron pe dependent rahegi."
"Par di"
"Par war kuch nahi, tum chahke bhi kuch nahi kar sakti. Ragini ko dard hoga, bura lagega, rejected bhi feel karegi. Tab tum uske ansu poachh sakti ho, Lakshya ko majbur nahi kar sakti ki woh usse pyar kare. It's out of your hands. Aur tum mujhe yeh batao ki tum maa ki dusri shadi karane pe kyun tuli ho?" When Kavya just stared at her, Swara continued. "Dekho mujhe galat mat samjho. Mujhe iss baat se koi problem nahi hai ki maa shadi karna chahti hai. Balki main toh khush hun ki maa shadi karna chahti hai. Divorce ke baad, baba toh move on kar gaye par maa apni puri zindagi hum pe lutadi. Mujhe maa ke move on karne se problem nahi hai par Shekhar Gadodia ke saath nahi."
"Par di, mujhe problem samajh nahi araha. Kya kharabi hai? Maa aur baba aaj bhi ek dusre se pyar karte hai. Aur mujhe toh samajh main nahi araha ki mujhe aapko yeh sab samjhana pad raha hai. Aap ne bhi toh bhag ke shaadi ki thi." This was a sensitive topic for Swara. When they were in college, in their idealism, they had eloped. They didn't think about their future which was uncertain nor their present, had it not been for her father, Shaurya, they would not have been where they are. He gave them shelter, took care of their expenses, and bore their education cost as well. They were so naive.
Swara loved Sanskar, always did, always will but in the hindsight, she would not get married to him the way they did. Even after knowing her mother's fate, she took that step. She shudders to think what she would have done if Sanskar had turned out like Shekhar Gadodia. She was luckier than her mother in that aspect. Sanskar left everything for her while Shekhar Gadodia could not speak up for her mother nor could he be truthful to Ragini's mother. He was a spineless man.
"Mujhe pata nahi ki uss inshan ne aisa kya kiya ki tum log uspe itna trust karte ho but mark my words, this will not end well. Aur han, Sanskar ko unke saath kabhi compare mat karna, mere pati ka apman hojayega." Swara said, without any emotion, and went to sleep. Kavya also followed her and tried to sleep but sleep kept evading her.
Frustrated, finally at midnight, Kavya came to the terrace for some air. She needed to clear her head. She did not mean to upset Swara. She came to the conclusion that all was not the same between the sisters anymore. The distance between their homes had also become the distance between their minds. They could no longer see each other's perspectives. She teared up at that, she had never in her worst nightmare thought she would have to see this day. Had they drifted so apart? she thought. She just could not understand how it happened.
Coincidentally, Lakshya had also gone there to plan his future course of action. "Kavya! Tum yahan, itni raat ko?" Lakshya called her. Kavya saw him and got up to leave. She had no interest in interacting with the likes of him but Lakshya stopped her.
"Dekho, mujhe tumse koi baat nahi karni. Mera mood waise bhi kharap hai."
"Kavya mujhe tumse baat karni hai."
"Kyun? Aur bhi kuch bacha hai kya bolne ko. You know what, main jab tumse pehli bar mili thi aur jo maine tumhare bareme socha wahi sahi tha."
"Kavya please! Main tumhe sab kuch bata dunga, please meri ek bar baat sun lo. Bahut important hai." Lakshya pleaded. When Kavya didn't seem to budge and turned to go, he finally dropped the bomb on her. "Main tumhari behen ka dever hun."
This stopped her in her tracks and she turned and glared at him. "Listen, bakwas band karo, okay."
"Bakwas nahi hai yeh. Tum mujh pe biswas nahi kar rahi ho na, thik hai. Ruko thoda." Lakshya said and showed her their family photo which included Sanskar as well. Kavya saw it but still did not believe him.
"Kya guarantee hai ki yeh photo sachi hai. Mujhe tumpe ab rati bhar bhi bharosa nahi hai. Apne yeh pentre kisi aur par chalana." Kavya said angrily, returned his phone to him, and went from there but she stopped in her tracks and asked him a question for the peace of her mind. "Main manti hun ki tumhari aur Ragini ki arranged marriage ho rahi thi par tum dono ka engagement bhi hogaya tha, kya tumhare dil main kabhi uske liye kuch bhi nahi tha? Kabhi usse connect karne ka mann nahi kiya?"
"Nahi" he replied.
"Well then, acha hoga ki yeh baat tum jitni jaldi ho sake usse bata do, kyunki woh bekar main tum jaise insaan se aas lagaye baithi hai. I hope main tumse firse kabhi na milun."Kavya said with a hardened expression and cold voice.
Lakshya gave out a frustrated sigh at that. He was being pulled from two directions and he had reached his wit's end. Kavya went back to her room and slept hugging Swara. She was determined to get the happy family she always dreamt of. She would handle everything.
On the terrace, Lakshya decided to deal with Sujata's problem first. Hopefully, when that would get solved, his problem with Kavya would also be solved. He decided to do that he would need to be as close to Sanskar as possible and Badi was the place for it. He would have to stay some more days there.
The next morning, in Maheshwari's house, after the morning aarti, Durga Prasad told Annapurna to go and bring Lakshya back. This made everyone happy except Sujata, who could not ever express her true feelings. Till then, everyone was apprehensive if Durga Prasad would really get Lakshya back, or was that sarcasm which they just took seriously.
Annapurna happily turned to Sujata to go with her to bring back Lakshya but declined by giving some excuses. So Uttara and Parineeta volunteered to go with her. On the other side, in Gadodia's house, Lakshya cornered the Gadodias early in the morning. He asked them if it was okay if he could stay at their house for a few more days as he still had not found a place to live. Dadi readily agreed thinking it will eventually lead to his and Ragini's wedding and also convinced her husband as Shekhar was already okay with it. With permission from the Gadodias to stay at their house, he was all set to his next target which was to pacify Kavya.
Annapurna had managed to convince Sujata to come with them. She was sulking in a corner in the car. Swara was leaving badi when she saw them coming towards badi. She immediately hid from their view and stayed back to know why they had gone there. Ragini was in the angan when they entered. They approached her and asked her about Lakshya. Seeing this she relaxed and went away. At least Lakshya had not outed them to his family just yet. She had to convince Sanskar to meet his family or at least his mother. It would not be good if they found out about them from someone else.
"Lakshya, hum tumhe lene aaye hai." Annapurna said.
"Maa hum iss bareme baat kar chuke hai main nahi mangne wala maafi toh ghar lautne ka sabal hin nahi." Lakshya said, dismissively.
"Lakshya tumhare papa ne hin hume bheja hai, tumhe ghar wapas lane." Annapurna said to make him understand.
"Nahi maa, Durga Prasad Maheswari unlogon main se nahi hai jo phele jhuk jaye. Unka koi toh motive hai nahi toh woh sanskar bhai ke time bhi jhuk jaate." Lakshya said.
"Sanskar aur tum main bahut farak hai Lakshya. Tum unke sage bete ho, aur woh unke bhai ka." Sujata said. The thing which she had kept inside her finally came out but at the worst time. Annapurna was disturbed hearing it. Parineeta was shocked to hear it, she knew about Sanskar but she thought they as a family they were finally starting to move on. Uttara and Lakshya though knew about her feelings, did not know how to fix the situation. "Main aap logon ka bahar intezar karti hun." Sujata said and went outside the room.